Undergarments



R. L. BLAIR UNDERGARMENTS Dec. 7, 1965 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed May 27, 1965 Dec. 7, 1965 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed May 2'7, 1963 United States Patent 3,221,747 UNDERGARMENTS Ronald L. Blair, 2650 W. Belden Ave., Chicago, Ill. Filed May 27, 1963, Ser. No. 283,260 3 Claims. (Cl. 128-479) This invention relates to undergarments, and more particularly to the brassiere of such undergarments.

One of the objects of this invention is to provide a brassiere in which an inner and outer cup is provided for each breast.

Another object of this invention is to provide a. brassiere with inner and outer breast pockets in which the inner pocket floats with respect to the outer pocket.

Another object of this invention is to provide a structure of the foregoing character which compensates and automatically adjusts for the diflerences in size between the breasts of a person, which eliminates the necessity of adjusting the brassiere as the person moves or exercises, which eliminates the drag on the shoulders, which provides great comfort, and which eliminates a flatness at the top of the bust line and provides a natural round contour.

Other objects and advantages will become apparent as this description progresses.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a front view of the brassiere.

FIG. 2 is a top view of a portion of the brassiere.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged sectional view taken on lines 33 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged sectional view taken on lines 44 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 5 is an enlarged view taken on lines 5-5 of FIG. 2.

FIG. 6 is a view taken on lines 66 of FIG. 5

FIG. 7 is a view taken on lines 7-7 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 8 is an exploded perspective view of the inside and outside cups of the brassiere.

While the invention is illustrated as a brassiere, it will be understood that it is applicable to an undergarment which has a brassiere portion.

The brassiere generally indicated at 10 is formed with a pair of outer breast pockets or cups and a pair of inner breast pockets or cups, the inner pocket being secured to its respective outer pocket only along its upper edges to permit the inner pocket to float relative to the outer pocket. The outer pockets are designated by the letter A and the inner pockets by the letter B.

Each outer pocket is formed of an upper section 12 and a lower section 14. The upper section 12 is formed of a material which has very little give. It is not a stretch material and nylon tricot is suggested for this purpose. The lower section 14 is formed of a stretch material which is elastic or gives in all directions and is formed preferably of a Spandex tricot material. The two sections 12 and 14 are stitched together along lines of stitching 16, along substantially the median line of the pocket. The upper and lower sections 12 and 14 are cut on the bias and the outer cups A are arranged so that the stitching lines 16 extend diagonally across the outer cup.

The two sections 12 and 14 which form the outer cup 7 also form the upper edge 18, a connecting and adjacent side edge 20, and a generally continuous arcuate shaped lower edge 22, which extends from the bottom of the side edge 20 to the opposite end of the upper edge 18. The the edge 20 is formed of the sides of the two sections 12 and 14. The diagonal stitch lines 16 extend from the side edge 20 at the juncture of the two sections inwardly and diagonally downward toward the inner edge and bottom of the arcuate shaped lower edge 22.

The two opposed outer pockets or cups A are connected to a panel generally indicated at 24, which has a central portion 26 with an inverted V-shaped bottom cutout 28. The panel extends outwardly to form opposed side panels 30 of non-stretchable material. Resilient connecting straps 32 are secured to the outer ends of the side panels 30 and the straps 32 are provided with conventional hook and eye fastening means 34. An elastic strip 36 is secured to the central panel section 26 across the opening 28. A pair of adjustable shoulder straps 38 is secured to the front cups at 40 and to the side panels as at 42.

The inner cups B are contour cups and are each made of a foam rubber composition 44 covered in a tricot fabric 46 and laminated together. The inner contour cups B are each formed of three sections comprising an upper section 48 and two lower sections 50 and 52. The two lower sections 50 and 52 are each generally triangular in shape and are stitched together along lines of stitching 54. The two lower sections are stitched to the upper section 48 along stitching line 56 which is substantially coincident with the stitching line 16 of the outer cup A when the inner cup is positioned inside the outer cup.

The inner cup B is secured to the outer cup A along lines of stitching 58 extending along the side edge 20 and along lines of stitching 60 running along the upper edge 18 of the outer cup. Thus, the generally arcuate shaped lower edge 62 of the inner cup B remains unattached from the outer cup and from the rest of the garment and the bottom of the inner contour cup floats. When a woman breathes or exercises the inner contour cups B will remain in permanent position while the outer cups will move to compensate for the movement of the body. This eliminates the necessity of constantly adjusting the brassiere during movement or exercising. It provides greater comfort in wearing the garment.

As will be seen, both the cups A and B on one side are slanted or inclined with respect to the opposite pair of cups A and B. For example, the left breast cup, both inner and outer cups A and B are slanted or inclined towards the right, that is, the median line of each cup, such as the median line 16 of cup A and the median line 56 of cup B coincident therewith both extend diagonally downward from the upper left to the right side, while the other cups, namely, the right breast cups, both inner and outer, have their median lines extending diagonally from the upper right downward to the left side. The arrangement of the slanted cups with this invention permits the median lines of the cups, in eflect, to bisect the bust nipple at an inclined angle, as contrasted to conventional breast cups in which the median line extends substantially horizontally and horizontally bisects the nipple.

With this invention shoulder strain is eliminated as the cups give with movement and the usual drag of the brassiere on the shoulders is eliminated. The connecting elastic strip 36 also gives with the persons breathing and eliminates pressure against the body. This invention also compensates for diflerent breast sizes, where one breast is larger than the other and provides the results achieved with custom built garments.

It will be understood that various changes and modifications may be made from the foregoing without departing from the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A brassiere comprising a pair of outer cups connected to a panel extending between the cups, each said outer cup formed of a plurality of sections joined together to form a cup, said sections having an inner top edge and a connecting outer top edge, a pair of inner contoured cups, with each inner cup positioned inside its respective outer cup, each said inner contoured cup formed of a generally foam-like rubber material, each said inner cup non-detachably connected to the outer cup along lines of stitching extending only along said top edges with the remaining edge of said inner cup free of the outer cup thereby providing a hinging action along said connection and said inner cup being free to float with respect to the outer cup.

2. A structure defined in claim 1 in which the panel extending between the outer cups also continues below and outwardly of the sides of the outer cups.

3. A structure defined in claim 1 in which the plurality of sections forming each of the outer cups comprise an upper section and a lower section joined together along a line extending diagonally from the upper outer portion of the cups inwardly towards the inner lower portion of the cups and in which the upper section is of a substantially non-stretch material and the lower section is of a stretch material.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,132,128 10/1938 Rasch 128489 2,560,706 7/1951 Spetalnik 128-489 2,719,975 10/1955 Rosenthal 128491 3,046,990 7/1962 Dozier 128490 3,093,139 6/1963 Plehn 128-479 ADELE M. EAGER, Primary Examiner. 

1. A BRASSIERE COMPRISING A PAIR OF OUTER CUPS CONNECTED TO A PANEL EXTENDING BETWEEN THE CUPS, EACH SAID OUTER CUP FORMED OF A PLURALITY OF SECTIONS JOINED TOGETHER TO FORM A CUP, SAID SECTIONS HAVING AN INNER TOP EDGE AND A CONNECTING OUTER TOP EDGE, A PAIR OF INNER CONTOURED CUPS, WITH EACH INNER CUP POSITIONED INSIDE ITS RESPECTIVE OUTER CUP, EACH SAID INNER CONTOURED CUP FORMED OF A GENERALLY FOAM-LIKE RUBBER MATERIAL, EACH SAID INNER CUP NON-DETACHABLY CONNECTED TO THE OUTER CUP ALONG LINES OF STITCHING EXTENDING ONLY ALONG SAID TOP EDGES WITH THE REMAINING EDGE OF SAID INNER CUP FREE OF THE OUTER CUP 